IN YOUR OPINION

Letters to the Editor for Sunday, May 29, 2011

Published: Sunday, May 29, 2011 at 6:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Friday, May 27, 2011 at 5:13 p.m.

Proposed military pay cut an injustice to service members

What is the country I fought for, and served 22 years in the military to protect, doing to our present military men and women? In 2010, 20,000 military members lost their homes due to foreclosure because of required change-of-station orders from the Department of Defense. Now DoD is planning to reduce the pay and benefits of present personnel serving in the military.

What in the world is Congress thinking?

Military members have no choice if they want to move or stay in their current home. They receive orders to deploy to a war zone or relocate to a new military installation. They cannot wait to move until the house sells. They move at the "pleasure of the service." There is never enough base housing to accommodate all military members and their families. The military families lose thousands of dollars and a home, but even worse, their credit rating is ruined.

On top of this injustice, the DoD and Secretary Robert Gates are recommending reducing the pay and benefits of military members. I cannot believe anyone would even consider this despicable idea. DoD is proposing to put them on welfare. It is a fact that 30 percent of military families are eligible for food stamps, and many ranks earn below the U.S. poverty level. Until government workers and Congress have their pay reduced, Congress should not even consider touching the pay and benefits of the people who make it possible for us to be free.

Harry Paddon

Lady Lake

Losing the race

Your editorial, "Bad options, but options nonetheless" (May 26), about Superintendent Jim Yancey and the Marion County School Board choosing the wrong options is wrong.

Teachers, most of them women, are getting the smack-around. Why would anyone in their right mind take another hit on their pay and pedal backward in their profession? Teachers spend years in college, put up with rude parents and children and endless senseless testing (then to be held responsible for the outcome) and get no pay raises to boot. I feel badly about the nonprofessional staff, too.

If you are looking for someone to blame, look at Gov. Rick Scott. Race to the top, my ....

Mike Boyd

Miami

A long-term problem

With all due respect to the writer of "The blame game" (May 25), the Republicans have been in control of the Florida House and Senate for 15 years, and look what we have now in this state.

So, let's look at the real issues in our state and the mess it is in. Let's see, 15 years vs. 800 days? Hmmmm.

Richard Lind

Ocala

Tired platitudes

The letter "The blame game" (May 25) irks me in that it regurgitates two tired old Republican platitudes — the need to run government like a business and the call for the tried-and-true failure of trickle-down economics.

I think Americans acknowledge that the federal government needs to make progress on rigorously balancing its income with its expenditures, but we do not want government run like a business.

A blogger, recently cited in a Forbes magazine article on this issue, articulated the thought that "a state is fundamentally an ethical enterprise aimed at promoting human welfare. A business isn't like that." The blogger further observed that if the government were really run like a business, it would solve its deficit problems by getting rid of old people. Sound uncomfortably familiar?

Trickle-down economics has been a failure for more than 30 years and has only served to make the rich richer. Congressional Budget Office statistics show that the share of after-tax income of America's richest 1 percent has increased more than 120 percent since 1979, while the bottom 80 percent has declined. Many American corporations are currently reaping astounding profits and paying astonishingly low taxes, while the Federal Reserve continues to maintain rock- bottom long-term interest rates. Where is the private job creation?

The Republican federal budget proposals would continue and enhance the wealth of private interests and the richest Americans on the backs of the middle class and the poor. As a liberal, I know this.

Gerard Meyn

Dunnellon

In this together

Making decisions that affect the environmental quality of our community must be based on the concept of the interwoven, interdependent nature of all living beings. Water, soil, plants, animals, insects, fish and humans are alive and connected. The health of each depends on the health of the other.

If water is polluted or scarce, all who depend on water as the basis of life will become unhealthy. If soil is unclean and of poor quality, the food produced in that soil reflects this. That food is used to nourish the bodies of animals and humans alike. If the air is of poor quality, all who breathe it are affected. All of these effects are cumulative in our bodies and the bodies of the fish and animals we eat and the plants that feed fish, animals and humans.

In addition to affecting our future water supply, bottling water contributes to environmental pollution. The plastic, disposable bottles are petroleum-based and contain a chemical called BPA. BPA is released into the water in the bottle when the bottle is exposed to heat. We absorb BPA when we drink the water. Exposure over time is harmful to our health and even more so to the health of our children. These bottles are recyclable; there is no way of knowing how many get recycled or how many end up in our landfill or by the side of the road and in our waterways. There is also a cost to the recycling process. There is a cost to the manufacture and delivery of the empty bottles to the water collection site. And more cost to the distribution of the finished product.

The tomato growers will need lots of water as well. They will also use herbicides, fungicides and pesticides in the process. These chemicals will eventually end up in our aquifer. They will concentrate downstream, affecting other communities.

There is no separation; we are all linked, and the consequences of our decisions affect us all.

Barbara Brandon Schwartz

Ocala

Passing it on

I have to marvel at the ignorance of the wealth-envy crowd bemoaning tax breaks for big corporations. The truth is that businesses, both large and small, do not pay taxes. Oh, they may write a check to Uncle Sam, but it's ultimately individuals who pay those taxes.

The simple fact is that a company's tax liability is just like any other cost of doing business. When a company's costs go up, those costs are passed on to one or more of the following groups of individuals:

Customers, in the form of higher prices.

Employees, in the form of lower wages and benefits and/or fewer people hired.

Shareholders, in the form of lower dividends.

Unfortunately, there is no shortage of politicians who make a tidy living for themselves exploiting that ignorance. They're selling the notion that if you vote for me, I'll make those evil, rich corporations pay the taxes so you don't have to. That sounds good, but the truth is that those corporate taxes roll right down the hill onto the backs of individuals.

If we were smart, the corporate tax rate would be zero. If we were smart, we'd pass the Fair Tax.

<p><b>Proposed military pay cut an injustice to service members</b></p><p>What is the country I fought for, and served 22 years in the military to protect, doing to our present military men and women? In 2010, 20,000 military members lost their homes due to foreclosure because of required change-of-station orders from the Department of Defense. Now DoD is planning to reduce the pay and benefits of present personnel serving in the military.</p><p>What in the world is Congress thinking?</p><p>Military members have no choice if they want to move or stay in their current home. They receive orders to deploy to a war zone or relocate to a new military installation. They cannot wait to move until the house sells. They move at the "pleasure of the service." There is never enough base housing to accommodate all military members and their families. The military families lose thousands of dollars and a home, but even worse, their credit rating is ruined. </p><p>On top of this injustice, the DoD and Secretary Robert Gates are recommending reducing the pay and benefits of military members. I cannot believe anyone would even consider this despicable idea. DoD is proposing to put them on welfare. It is a fact that 30 percent of military families are eligible for food stamps, and many ranks earn below the U.S. poverty level. Until government workers and Congress have their pay reduced, Congress should not even consider touching the pay and benefits of the people who make it possible for us to be free.</p><p><b>Harry Paddon</b></p><p><i>Lady Lake</i></p><p><b>Losing the race</b></p><p>Your editorial, "Bad options, but options nonetheless" (May 26), about Superintendent Jim Yancey and the Marion County School Board choosing the wrong options is wrong.</p><p>Teachers, most of them women, are getting the smack-around. Why would anyone in their right mind take another hit on their pay and pedal backward in their profession? Teachers spend years in college, put up with rude parents and children and endless senseless testing (then to be held responsible for the outcome) and get no pay raises to boot. I feel badly about the nonprofessional staff, too.</p><p>If you are looking for someone to blame, look at Gov. Rick Scott. Race to the top, my ....</p><p><b>Mike Boyd</b></p><p><i>Miami</i></p><p><b>A long-term problem</b></p><p>With all due respect to the writer of "The blame game" (May 25), the Republicans have been in control of the Florida House and Senate for 15 years, and look what we have now in this state.</p><p>So, let's look at the real issues in our state and the mess it is in. Let's see, 15 years vs. 800 days? Hmmmm.</p><p><b>Richard Lind</b></p><p><i>Ocala</i></p><p><b>Tired platitudes</b></p><p>The letter "The blame game" (May 25) irks me in that it regurgitates two tired old Republican platitudes — the need to run government like a business and the call for the tried-and-true failure of trickle-down economics.</p><p>I think Americans acknowledge that the federal government needs to make progress on rigorously balancing its income with its expenditures, but we do not want government run like a business.</p><p>A blogger, recently cited in a Forbes magazine article on this issue, articulated the thought that "a state is fundamentally an ethical enterprise aimed at promoting human welfare. A business isn't like that." The blogger further observed that if the government were really run like a business, it would solve its deficit problems by getting rid of old people. Sound uncomfortably familiar?</p><p>Trickle-down economics has been a failure for more than 30 years and has only served to make the rich richer. Congressional Budget Office statistics show that the share of after-tax income of America's richest 1 percent has increased more than 120 percent since 1979, while the bottom 80 percent has declined. Many American corporations are currently reaping astounding profits and paying astonishingly low taxes, while the Federal Reserve continues to maintain rock- bottom long-term interest rates. Where is the private job creation?</p><p>The Republican federal budget proposals would continue and enhance the wealth of private interests and the richest Americans on the backs of the middle class and the poor. As a liberal, I know this.</p><p><b>Gerard Meyn</b></p><p><i>Dunnellon</i></p><p><b>In this together</b></p><p>Making decisions that affect the environmental quality of our community must be based on the concept of the interwoven, interdependent nature of all living beings. Water, soil, plants, animals, insects, fish and humans are alive and connected. The health of each depends on the health of the other.</p><p>If water is polluted or scarce, all who depend on water as the basis of life will become unhealthy. If soil is unclean and of poor quality, the food produced in that soil reflects this. That food is used to nourish the bodies of animals and humans alike. If the air is of poor quality, all who breathe it are affected. All of these effects are cumulative in our bodies and the bodies of the fish and animals we eat and the plants that feed fish, animals and humans.</p><p>In addition to affecting our future water supply, bottling water contributes to environmental pollution. The plastic, disposable bottles are petroleum-based and contain a chemical called BPA. BPA is released into the water in the bottle when the bottle is exposed to heat. We absorb BPA when we drink the water. Exposure over time is harmful to our health and even more so to the health of our children. These bottles are recyclable; there is no way of knowing how many get recycled or how many end up in our landfill or by the side of the road and in our waterways. There is also a cost to the recycling process. There is a cost to the manufacture and delivery of the empty bottles to the water collection site. And more cost to the distribution of the finished product.</p><p>The tomato growers will need lots of water as well. They will also use herbicides, fungicides and pesticides in the process. These chemicals will eventually end up in our aquifer. They will concentrate downstream, affecting other communities.</p><p>There is no separation; we are all linked, and the consequences of our decisions affect us all.</p><p><b>Barbara Brandon Schwartz</b></p><p><i>Ocala</i></p><p><b>Passing it on</b></p><p>I have to marvel at the ignorance of the wealth-envy crowd bemoaning tax breaks for big corporations. The truth is that businesses, both large and small, do not pay taxes. Oh, they may write a check to Uncle Sam, but it's ultimately individuals who pay those taxes.</p><p>The simple fact is that a company's tax liability is just like any other cost of doing business. When a company's costs go up, those costs are passed on to one or more of the following groups of individuals:</p><p>Customers, in the form of higher prices.</p><p>Employees, in the form of lower wages and benefits and/or fewer people hired.</p><p>Shareholders, in the form of lower dividends.</p><p>Unfortunately, there is no shortage of politicians who make a tidy living for themselves exploiting that ignorance. They're selling the notion that if you vote for me, I'll make those evil, rich corporations pay the taxes so you don't have to. That sounds good, but the truth is that those corporate taxes roll right down the hill onto the backs of individuals.</p><p>If we were smart, the corporate tax rate would be zero. If we were smart, we'd pass the Fair Tax.</p><p><b>Bob Paxton</b></p><p><i>Ocala</i></p>